Amusement device



Oct 9, 1962 R. H. H. BEHRENS 3,057,305

AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed May 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed May 27, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

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3,057,305 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 ice 3,057,305 AMUSEMENT DEVICE Robert H. H. Behrens, 4731 Hamburg Ave., St. Louis 23, Mo. Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,135 1 Claim. (Cl. 105150) The present invention relates to an amusement device for children.

An object of the present invention is to provide an amusement device for children which is safe in operation, foolproof in operation, one which may be used in a variety of ways, and one which may be produced economically in quantity.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an amusement device for children which is novel, interesting to children, and highly effective in action.

With these objects in mind, and with reference to the following description, the device of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device as suspended for travel over a cable,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the device in the upper end of a chute for movement therefrom,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the device mounted upon a platform for movement therefrom for travel along the cable of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the device in the upper end portion of another chute ready for movement therefrom, and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the device in another use.

With reference to the drawings in detail, the device of the present invention consists in a cart which is designated generally by the numeral 30. The cart 30 includes spaced side walls 31 having their one ends connected by a back wall 32 and their other ends connected by a front wall 33. A bottom 34 extends along the lower edges of the side, back and front walls, and closes the bottom of the cart 30.

The back wall 32 is provided with a vertical slot 35. A pair of rear posts 36 rise from the bottom 34 within the cart 30 and are secured to the adjacent portions of the side walls 31 and the back wall 32.

Other posts 37 are similarly positioned with respect to the front end of the cart and are secured to the side walls 31. Bolt and nut assemblies 38 secure the posts 36 and 37 to the cart 30.

An important feature of the present invention resides in a device 39 (FIGURE 4) for starting or releasing the cart 30 from a position in which it is held. This device 39 consists in a substantially horizontally disposed lever 40 pivotally connected inwardly of one end thereof by a pin 41 to the upper end of a post 42 which rises from the cart bottom 34 more or less centrally of the latter.

The lever 40 has a portion 40 extending rearwardly of the back wall 32 through the slot 35 in the back wall 32. Carried on the portion 40' of the lever 40 is a short post 43 having on its upper end a horizontally disposed bar 44 arranged substantially at right angles to the rear face of the back wall 32.

Hooks 45 are disposed in a substantially horizontal plane rearwardly of the back wall 32 and are engaged in eye bolts which are secured in the back wall 32, for purposes to be later explained.

The cart 30 is provided on its lower end with casters 47 for rolling movement over a platform or ground surface.

Other casters 48 project outwardly of the side walls 31 for purposes later to be explained.

Within the cart 30 adjacent the levered end thereof is a seat 49 disposed below the upper ends of the side walls 31.

An inverted U-shaped support 52 extends upwardly from the cart 30 intermediate the back wall 32 and the front wall 33. The support 52 has its legs 53 anchored in brackets 54 fixed to the side of the cart exteriorly thereof. Each of the legs 53- has a nut 55 on the lower end thereof securing the legs 53 against upward movement through the brackets 54. The U-shaped support 52 has its bight 56 adapted for attachment to an overhead support, as will later be explained.

The upper ends of the posts 36 and 37 are provided with clevices 57, the purpose of which is also to be later explained.

A horizontally disposed strap 58 encloses the rear post 57 and the adjacent portions of the legs 53 of the support 52. The strap 58 is provided with a securing buckle 59 in the conventional manner.

In FIGURES 1 and 3 a cable 60 is shown and in FIG- URE 1 one end of the cable is secured to a supporting structure 61 by means of an eye bolt 62 screwed into the structure 61. A turnbuckle 63 is provided between the eyebolt 62 and the cable end for tightening up the cable 60 when it is necessary.

Riding on the cable 60 is a pulley 64 having a hook structure 65 depending therefrom, the hook structure 65 being engaged in the bail or bight 56 of the support 52.

With reference to FIGURE 4, the numeral 73 designates generally the upper end of a chute having an end section 74 and a runway section 75, only a portion of the latter being seen.

Screws 76 secure the section 75 to the section 74, there being provided screws 76 selectively extending through openings 77 provided in the side wall of the section 74 for varying the position of the section 75 relative to the section 74.

An eye bolt 78 secures one end of the previously mentioned hook 45 to the upright end 79 of the chute 73.

A base 80 supports a block 81 on one end against which the free end of the section 74 rests in order to provide a slope to the chute section 74 down which the cart 30 will roll when the hook 45 is released from the eye bolt 46.

In FIGURE 2, much the same structure is shown with the hooks 45 having their one ends secured by eye bolts 109 to the end wall 108 of another chute 105. The chute includes side walls 106 which serve as guides for the casters 48.

Referring to FIGURE 5, the free ends of the hooks 45 are shown secured to a ring 82 on one end of a cable 83 which has its other end fixedly secured to a fixed object.

This form of the invention includes elongated coil springs 84 having their one ends hooked to the clevices 57 and their other ends hooked in eye bolts 86 which depend from an overhead support 87.

Means is provided for imparting motion to the cart 30 in each of its uses, such means including, in the case of the cart 30 in FIGURE 4 the source of gravity. In FIG- URE 2 this means is designated generally by the reference numeral and it consists in a bar 111 extending along the rear of the cart 30 and engageable with the lower end portions of the posts 36. Springs 112 on the ends of the bar 111 have their forward ends connected to eye formations 113 secured in the side walls 106 of the chute 105.

In FIGURE 3 the motion imparting means is designated generally by the numeral 118 and it includes another bar 119 extending along the back wall of the cart 30 and to which are fastened the adjacent ends of springs 120 which have their other ends secured to posts 121 rising from the ground. The posts 121 are forwardly of a platform 116 having steps 117 leading thereto.

At the rearward edge of the platform 1&6 is an upright 123 in which are secured eye bolts 124 receiving the adjacent ends of the hooks 45.

Returning now to the matter of the hooks 45, this is the important feature of the invention in that it provides, in cooperation with the lever 40 and bar 44 a means for releasing the hooks 45 from their attachment in the eye bolts 46 in the back of the cart 30. In use, with a child seated upon the seat 49 in the cart 30' and the hooks 45 engaged in the eyebolts 46, either in the gravity operated cart 30 in FIGURE 4 or the spring propelled carts 30 in FIGURES 2, 3 and 5, the child merely has to press down on the forward end portion of the lever 40 forwardly of the pin 41 to raise the rearward end portion 40 so that the bar 44 engages the hook ends of the hooks 45 below the eye bolts 46.

As such hooks 45 are of conventional construction, the curvature of the hook end is such that raising the hook end through the eye bolts 46 is sufiicient to release the hooks 45 from their respective eye bolts 46. This permits the cart 30 to either travel by gravity in FIGURE 4 down the chute 73 or to swing at the ends of the springs 84 in FIGURE 5.

What is claimed is:

An amusement device comprising a cart including a back wall and a bottom extending from the lower end of said back wall, there being a slot in said back wall, a lever having a portion adjacent one end extending through said slot, means operatively connecting said lever intermediate the ends thereof to said cart bottom for movement of said one end portion upwardly, an eyebolt carried by said back wall on the exterior of the latter, a hook having the hook end thereof releasably engaged in said eyebolt, and a bar on said lever one end portion operable to engage and push said hook end upwardly to release said hook end from said eye bolt responsive to upward movement of said lever one end portion whereby said cart is freed for movement under the action of a propelling force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 432,271 Harman July 15, 1890 919,352 Hinderland Apr. 27, 1909 946,200 Bragg Jan. 11, 1910 1,249,305 Black Dec. 11, 1917 1,633,204 Bartlett June 21, 1927 1,671,774 McIntosh May 29, 1928 1,838,227 Krahl Dec. 29, 1931 1,852,384 Wallin Apr. 5, 1932 1,872,204 Wily Aug. 16, 1932 1,884,430 Warren Oct. 25, 1932 2,318,958 Murphy May 11, 1943 2,539,360 Bartlett Jan. 23, 1951 2,581,572 Beauregard Jan. 8, 1952 New A, 

